The present invention relates to data processing in distributed systems, and, more specifically, to processing data in a distributed system that manages data and at least one complete or partial copy of the data.
Heterogeneous, distributed data is commonly stored and analyzed in federated database systems. A federated database system is a type of distributed data processing system, also referred to as “meta-database management system,” which transparently maps multiple autonomous database systems into a single federated database. The constituent databases are interconnected via a computer network and may be geographically decentralized. Because the constituent database systems remain autonomous, a federated database system is a contrastable alternative to the (sometimes daunting) task of merging several disparate databases. A federated database is a composite of all constituent databases in the federated database system. Typically, each constituent database of the federated database system maintains its respective interface for receiving database queries. Typically, each constituent database system stores and autonomously maintains a catalog being descriptive of the tables of the respective constituent database. Typically, there is no unified, central schema that encompasses the information available from the members of the federation.
In currently conventional federated database management systems there is no actual data integration in the constituent disparate databases as a result of data federation. In case it should be necessary to integrate and synchronize at least parts of the data stored in different constituent database management systems of a federated database system, additional protocols are typically implemented for synchronizing the data for example (for example, “two-phase commit protocols (2PC)” or “three-phase commit protocols (3PC)”).